Media briefing on Stephen Lawrence

The small group of people outside the Metropolitan police briefed about new evidence which may lead to arrests in the New Year were all sworn to secrecy (Fibres on Stephen Lawrence's clothes could lead to breakthrough after 14 years, police believe, November 9). The last thing an investigating officer wants is for suspects to know that arrest is imminent. They might just head off for South America.

Why then did the Met brief the media last week with great detail on the new evidence? Some newspaper coverage has suggested a link with the current woes of the commissioner. If so, parallels could be drawn with the continued absence from the public domain of the transcripts and the correspondence files of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, eight years after that inquiry ended. Contrast that with the Hutton inquiry, where all relevant documents were available on the official websites within weeks

I believe that neither the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which reported last month on the Lawrence case, nor the 2006 BBC TV programme on the killing of Stephen Lawrence had access to these vital documents.

I will be sorry if this is a tactic to protect senior Met officers: insufficient information when it is needed and too much when it needs to be kept under wraps. Hardly the actions of the thoroughly professional police service we were promised. Dr Richard StonePanel member, Stephen Lawrence inquiry